


But It Was You, All Along

by colourmemerthur (tilly_sivxn)



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Comedy, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Romance, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-04
Updated: 2015-02-24
Packaged: 2018-03-10 09:58:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3286112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tilly_sivxn/pseuds/colourmemerthur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur’s confused. He bought a Soul Watch to tell him how long he has until he meets his soulmate, but it says that he’s already met them. He sets out with his friend Merlin to try and track down everyone he knows that might possibly be the person he’s meant to be with, but the result isn’t exactly who he expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One - Leon & Gwen

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! This is my very first Merlin fanfic. I've been writing a bit of stuff on my Wattpad account, but after my friend (and also my Beta) showed me AO3 I've become obsessed!  
> Hope you enjoy this chapter. It's more of an introduction to the whole story, with a little bit of plot.  
> There's no planned smut or self-harm, or anything triggering in this story, but if there ever is, I promise I will warn you all.  
> Thanks, bye!

_Ring, ring!_

Arthur, groaning and half-asleep, reached across the bed to his side-table, where his phone was having a minor seizure and giving off that horrible ringtone which was sadly the only half-decent tone on the thing. He grabbed the phone and looked at the name of the caller: Morgana. He groaned in complaint - of course it would be Morgana to be the one to wake up at this ungodly hour.

“What’s so important you need to wake me up at  _eight a.m_  for?” he groaned into the phone.

He heard Morgana laugh. Typical. He could just imagine the stupid smirk across her face right now. Knowing Morgana, she'd probably set her alarm super early just so she could wake him up.

“That’s no way to treat a sister,” Morgana laughed.

Arthur sat himself up on the bed and yawned.

“I don’t  _care_ , Morgana,” he replied.

“Anyway,” Morgana said, “I was planning a bit of a meet-up at Morgause’s restaurant tonight. Considering Leon and Gwen are about to get married I thought it would be a good idea!”

Arthur thought about Gwen and Leon and he felt genuinely happy for their relationship. Leon and Gwen had only met up a few weeks ago on the bus. Yes, their relationship was pretty short, but they knew they’d stick with each other for life.

A few years ago, a dating website called '[findyourmatch.com](http://findyourmatch.com/)' announced something they called the Soul Watch. It was apparently supposed to tell you the time until you’d meet your "soulmate". The ads all started as cheap and cheesy infomercials that didn’t appeal to that many people, but when Jennifer Lawrence successfully managed to find her soulmate thanks to that watch, the sales went crazy. The website promised a 98.2% chance of accuracy and so far, there were no reports of the device failing any purchasers.

Arthur had personally bought Leon a Soul Watch for his birthday, which was about a week before Gwen and Leon had met – as a joke. “ _Your love life is so deprived!_ ” he had written in the card. Little did he expect Leon to put the watch on and see that he only had a week until he met the person of his dreams.

As with everyone else, Leon had been incredibly nervous on the day he was going to meet his soulmate. He’d dressed nicely, shaved, and was constantly texting Arthur his worries. They'd planned on going out to a café Leon fancied, hoping to meet some nice waitress or barista. But about ten minutes before he was destined to meet his soulmate, his boss called him telling had to go to work, because a co-worker had caught the flu and they were short on staff.

It took a bit of time for Arthur to cheer him up.

“You never know!” Arthur had told him, trying to help the man think positively. “They could be waiting on the bus for someone like you to get on!”

Leon smiled a bit at that and they walked down to the bus stop. Three minutes left on the clock; three minutes until the bus arrived. Leon was constantly frantically checking the watch and Arthur tried to calm him down, but it was pretty obvious he was really tense.

Two minutes. Arthur could see Leon was clenching his jaw and leaning from one foot to the other. A wind blew across them from a passing truck, messing up Leon's long hair, but he didn’t seem to care, which wasn’t very Leon-y of him – he must have been extremely nervous. Who wouldn't be, possibly about to meet the person of your dreams in mere minutes?

atfrom far down the busy main road.

“Ten seconds,” Leon told him as the bus pulled in.

Arthur stepped onto the bus first to see only one passenger – a girl with a tanned complexion and long curly black hair sitting alone at the back of the bus. There was no one else on at this time, as rush-hour had finished hours ago.

Arthur looked at his watch – it was digital, not a Soul Watch. Leon had three more seconds. He turned around to see Leon walking through the bus doors.

Two seconds. Leon pulled out his bus card.

One second. He scanned his card on the machine, then looked up at the girl at the back of the bus.

Realising the two were destined to be soulmates, Leon made Arthur sit with him at the back and talk with her, and they spent the majority of the bus trip getting to know each other. Her name was Guinevere and she happened to work in the building across the road from Leon’s work. She only had one close friend, whose name was Freya. Only two weeks after their meeting on the bus, in which they’d exchanged phone numbers and promised to keep in touch, Leon proposed to Gwen at the grand opening of Morgause's restaurant.

“That would be good,” Arthur said, bringing himself back to the present. “What time should I arrive?”

“About seven should be good. I’ve called Lancelot so don't bother about telling him, and Merlin as well, so don't worry.” Morgana laughed and tutted. “Next time, Arthur, you should be up and at it at eight – you know you have work at eight thirty?”

Panicking, Arthur turned to the clock.  _Shit!_  He thought,  _it’s quarter past eight!_

“Okay,” Arthur stammered into the phone, finally waking up. “I should get going to work now - bye!”

He quickly hung up and ran to his closet, still blinking away sleepiness. He heard his phone go off again, but ignored it. Probably a telemarketer or something. He rushed into the kitchen, still buttoning up his shirt, where Lancelot, his flat-mate, knocked into him.

“Whoa, mate!” Lance said, resting a hand in Arthur's chest. “Slow down! You got somewhere to be today?”

“Work,” Arthur spat out, pushing past and flicking on the kettle to make a cup of coffee.

“You do realise that it’s Saturday, right?” Lancelot asked, sitting at the table and starting his breakfast.

The fact dawned on him and he shook his head furiously, walking down the hall back to his room. He grabbed his phone.

_1 New Voicemail From: Morgana AKA My Annoying Sister_

Arthur groaned and tapped the notification.

"Did I  _seriously_  get you?" Morgana's amused voice rang out. "You're more gullible than I thought!”

“God dammit, Morgana!” Arthur yelled, throwing his phone angrily onto the bed.

* * *

“What do you think?” Arthur said, standing in front of a mirror and holding up a suit.

“I’d bang you,” Merlin joked, punching Arthur’s arm.

The two were currently at a fancy suit hire place to rent a tuxedo for the night, but no matter how hard they both tried, Arthur just couldn’t find an outfit that looked right.

“Just because you’re bi, Merlin, doesn’t mean you have to joke about banging me all the time,” Arthur said, searching through the racks of waistcoats. “And besides, you have a girlfriend!”

“Oh, I  _forgot_ ,” Merlin smirked sarcastically, walking through the tie rack, “Well, at least I  _have_  a girlfriend.”

Arthur groaned and rolled his eyes at his friend.

“I  _told_  you,” he said, running his fingers through his hair, “I’m still curious… I don’t even know if I like guys, or girls, or...” he trailed off. “I don't know.”

“Well, to figure that out, you’ll need to have to do a little…” Merlin winked at Arthur. “Experimenting.”

“Oh,  _shut up_ ,  _Mer_ lin!” Arthur said, waving a coat hanger like a little sword.

* * *

“You ready to go?” Lancelot asked, Arthur, waiting at the door to their flat.

Arthur nodded, grabbing his phone and slipping it into his pocket. Eventually he’d decided to go with a simple black tuxedo and a black tie, whilst Merlin went with a black tuxedo and a purple tie.

Arthur had hired a limo for the three of them to take to the restaurant. He’d offered to take Freya, Merlin’s girlfriend and the same Freya who was friends with Gwen as well, but she was going over to Gwen’s to do “girl stuff”, so Merlin had come home with Arthur after searching for what to wear and they were leaving from his flat with Lancelot, with whom Merlin was close friends. The three stepped into the stylish limousine and got ready to take off to Morgause’s restaurant.

Morgause was one of Morgana’s best friends. Being the social person that she was, Morgana knew everyone worth knowing in the city of Camelot, and had met Morgause at a dinner party a few years ago. Since then, they’d done basically everything together.  Morgause had always dreamt of opening a restaurant, and since meeting Morgana, she’d expressed quite a bit of interest her interest in starting one. Morgana, having quite a decent amount of money (she was a lawyer), decided to help fund the restaurant. After a year of building and hiring top chefs and waitresses available, the restaurant was finally opened.

Finally, after about a quarter of an hour, the limo pulled up outside the restaurant. Standing outside were Morgana, Freya, Leon and Gwen. Morgana was in discussion with Leon whilst Gwen and Freya were chatting animatedly together. Morgana was wearing a long, extravagant green dress that dragged along the ground behind her, with hair up in a small bun and her wrists were covered in small glittering bracelets. Gwen was equally as beautiful, her red dress complimenting her jewelled headpiece, and Freya was wearing a short red pencil dress and matching high-heels. Leon had gone with an expensive looking suit and tie.

Merlin opened up the car door and stepped out, and Freya, noticing his arrival, walked over and they embraced, Merlin pulling her in and kissing her on the cheek. Lancelot stepped out, then Arthur, who immediately went over to Morgana.

“You realise how annoying you  _actually_  are?” Arthur said to Morgana, interrupting her conversation with Leon. “I was rushing around the house until Lancelot reminded me what day it was! I thought I  _actually_  had work!”

Morgana laughed, and pulled her classic smirk.

“Next time,” she said. “Keep track of what day it is, won’t you?”

The door to the restaurant swung open, and a man popped his head out.

“Your table is ready,” the man said with a nod of his head, though no one was really listening but Morgana.

“Thank you, Gaius,” Morgana said.

She then turned around to the entire group and managed to get their attention by clapping her hands once.

“We can go in now!” she announced.

“What about Elyan, and Gwaine and Percival?” Gwen asked. “I thought they were coming.”

“They’re probably late,” said Freya. “Trust  _Gwaine_  to slow them down.”

“We’ll wait inside, it’s getting cold.” Morgana said. “Come on,”

“Actually,” Merlin said, peering over everyone’s heads. “I think that’s them there.”

Their heads all turned to see a taxi driving up. It pulled up on the side of the road and the door flung open for them to see Elyan, Gwaine and Percival, who jumped out, all in matching black tuxedos. Gwaine had even brushed his hair for the occasion.

“Are we late?” Elyan said, walking over and enveloping Gwen in a big hug. They were brother and sister, with Gwen just over a year older than Elyan.

“Just in time,” Morgana said, sounding half annoyed and half amused. After a few minutes of greetings, the group moved into the restaurant.

The restaurant was decorated with chic white lights hanging from the night ceiling of the hall, above the lavish black tables that were filled with customers dressed in crease-free tuxedos and elaborate dresses. Shining white plates covered in delicately made meals were being carried around the hall by waiters who managed to handle several plates on one arm flawlessly. A short man, who Morgana introduced as Gaius, led them towards the back of the room, through a door labelled ‘VIP Guests’, into the second hall where their reserved table was.

Inside this room, which was equally as stunning as the other, were more tables (though not as many as the main hall), some with diners already sitting and enjoying themselves. Near the centre was a round wooden table with a chandelier hanging over the very centre, surrounded by white chairs. Beside the table, Morgause stood, wearing an elegant dress and her hair in an elegant bun.

“Welcome, everyone!” Morgause said, “To the VIP suite of the restaurant. Please, take a seat.”

Slowly, everyone went and sat down, Elyan, Gwaine and Percival all together, Arthur next to Merlin, Freya on Merlin’s other side, then Morgana with Leon and Gwen next to each other, smiling at each other and holding hands.

“Today you will be eating the  _most_  famous banquet we have to offer,” Morgause said, striding around the table. “You will be enjoying our Royal Banquet, fit for a king!”

Everyone clapped and Morgause walked to the door which lead back to the main hall.

“Your entrée will arrive in a few minutes,” she said finally. “Please, talk and enjoy yourself!”

And she was out of the door.

Slowly, the chit-chat begun. There were many congratulations to Leon and Gwen for their upcoming wedding, and talk about the watch that had brought them together. Finally, three waiters came out, each holding a few plates each, laden with their entrée, which looked stunning. The plates were laid out in front of them and everyone tucked in.

“Mmm,” Gwaine said, his mouth stuffed with food, “this is delicious!”

One of the waiters laughed.

“We try,” he smirked.

When they’d finished eating, Gwen stood up and ringed her spoon against her now empty champagne glass.

“Thank you, everyone,” Gwen said as she stood, after the group had quietened down. “Thank you for all your congratulations, and your thanks. To Morgause, for allowing us to dine here, and Morgana, for organising it. Leon and I greatly appreciate it all, but I think we both have to dedicate our greatest thanks to the Soul Watch!”

Everyone clapped again.

“If it wasn’t for that,” Gwen continued, her eyes sparkling as she took a glance at Leon as she spoke. “Leon and I would never have known we were meant for each other. We would’ve gone on our days, not knowing we had missed our chance to meet our true soulmate,” she took another glance at him. “So, thank you, Soul Watch, for helping me find my true love.”

Everyone cheered now – Gwaine the loudest. Gwen laughed and smiled, then sat back down just as Morgause entered again.

“Now, everyone,” she said, standing beside the table, “being a banquet, we have seven main dishes for you to all share. You can help yourself to anything you wish.”

Slowly, one by one, Morgause went through all the dishes. They included a bowl of creamy soup, a dish prawns, a platter of small pies, a few steaks and herb-crusted vegetables and other meals that all looked beautiful and delicious.

“Feel free to ask a waiter to serve you, there shall be a few waiting around and they’re all more than happy to help. Please begin.”

The waiters replaced their used cutlery and left them all to enjoy their food. Arthur immediately and unceremoniously piled his plate with the food that appealed to him and tucked in, washing it all down with a few too many glasses of pink champagne. He noticed Gwen and Leon not talking but staring lovingly at each other, Gwaine and Elyan laughing about something and Merlin and Freya exchanging bright conversation.

When they’d finished, desert was brought out, and after that the dinner was over. People started finishing up conversations and packing up their bags. Lancelot was planning on going out to a party with Percival, Gwaine, Elyan and Morgana (Morgana would never decline a chance to get to know someone new) and Gwen and Leon were heading back to Gwen’s house, so that left Arthur with Merlin and Freya for the trip home.

Merlin had always very cautious when it came to drinking; he only ever had one drink a night, and only on very special occasions, but Arthur decided that night to down quite too many glasses of champagne, meaning he was, well, drunk.

“Hey, Morgana,” Arthur said, slightly slurred, as he stepped out of the restaurant. “I remember back when I bit your Barbie’s head off and blamed it on the dog!”

“That was you?” Morgana asked, sounding shocked and mildly revolted.

“It didn’t taste that good,” Arthur slurred again.

“I bet it didn’t,” Leon said, hearing their conversation.

They all said goodbye to each other outside before Arthur stumbled toward a taxi on the curb. He leaned on the edge of the car whilst Merlin opened up the back door for him. As Arthur tried to step into the car, he tripped on the curb and fell face-first into the soft interior of the vehicle, making Morgana smirk.

Merlin hopped in the car after Arthur, closely follow by Freya who got into the front seat.

“Who put that curb there?” Arthur asked no one in particular. Merlin laughed and did Arthur’s seatbelt up for him.

“To 76 Darkling Street, thanks!” Merlin told the driver, who driver gave him the thumbs up and they were off.

During the 10 minute trip Arthur wouldn’t stop stating random facts.

“I’m in a car.”

“Merlin is next to me.”

“Yes, I  _know_ , Arthur,” Merlin said multiple times but it didn’t stop Arthur from continuing to point out these things.

Finally, after the trip ended, the car pulled over.

“Time to get out,” Merlin said, pulling on Arthur’s arm. “We gotta get you home.”

Merlin half-pulled Arthur out of the car and helped him get back to his apartment while Freya waited in the taxi, because she and Merlin still needed to get home. They finally managed to get inside after Arthur tripping over his feet a few times.

“It’s probably best if you get to bed,” Merlin said, when he realised how drunk Arthur actually was. Merlin reached into his pocket and pulled out the spare key for Arthur’s apartment, which Arthur had given him for situations like this. He half led and half carried Arthur to his room.

“Okay,” Merlin said. “I need to go now.”

Arthur stopped him by catching onto his arm as he went past.

“No,” Arthur said complainingly. “Stay with me.”

Merlin looked at his watch. He didn’t want to keep Freya or the taxi waiting.

“I have to go now Arth-” Merlin started, until Arthur wrapped his lips on Merlin’s.

The kiss lasted about a second. Arthur had thrown his mouth onto Merlin’s, but hadn’t gotten as far as starting to use his tongue until Merlin pulled away.

“I need to go now, Arthur.” Merlin said solidly, before walking out the door, closing it a little too hard it on his way.

When Merlin got back in the taxi, his head was awash with thoughts. Did Arthur have something for him? No, it wasn’t possible. Arthur had clearly said many times that he didn’t like Merlin, that he didn’t like anyone in particular. It was obviously because he was drunk, right? But as many times as Merlin reminded himself that he had a girlfriend, he still felt something in that kiss. Merlin knew he was bisexual, so he wasn’t disgusted by the kiss, but he felt something more than just kissing someone. He felt a spark. A spark of love.

By the time the taxi had pulled into his and Freya’s apartment, Merlin had made up his mind. Arthur was curious. Drunk Arthur had taken Merlin’s joke earlier that morning about “experimenting”, and, being drunk, Drunk Arthur had forgotten it was a joke and thought Merlin was being serious about it. Merlin knew he loved Freya, and, although neither of them had a Soul Watch, they were pretty certain that they were meant to be.

Merlin paid the driver, said “thanks”, and he and Freya headed up to their apartment.

* * *

The next morning, Merlin woke up early to cook breakfast. He wasn’t the best cook, but Freya insisted he was amazing, though that’s what she’d always say. He was just beginning to turn on the stove to heat the frying pan when he heard Freya behind him, just woken up and entering the kitchen.

“Hey hun,” Freya said, walking over to Merlin.

“Hey, you,” Merlin smiled. Freya placed her hands on the back of his neck and pulled him into a deep kiss. They let their lips move freely against each other as they pulled the kiss in closer. He let his tongue slip into Freya’s mouth as they rubbed against each other, the kiss slowly getting thirstier.

Merlin pulled away for a breath, to when Freya smirked at him. The one thing Merlin couldn’t figure out was how Freya went from being cute and innocent at one moment to so damn sexy in the blink of an eye.

“I love you, Merlin.” Freya said, placing her hands on his hips.

“I love you too, Freya.” Merlin replied.

 

 


	2. Chapter Two - Hangovers & Wasted Money

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!  
> Thanks for all the love on my first chapter. I know it's a bit late but I hope the length makes up for it!  
> As usual, this was beta-ed by my awesome friend 7dancingzebras. She's got 2 merthur fanfics out and they're super duper awesome and you should really check them out. I'll be beta-ing her new Swan Lake crossover so look out for that!  
> ~  
> In the last chapter, Arthur and Merlin go to a fancy dinner party held by Morgana, and end up having a drunk kissing session. Now, Arthur's a little bit hungover.... Will he remember what happens? What else will happen? Read on!

Arthur woke up the next morning feeling like someone had hit him in the head with a frying pan. His head was swimming with thoughts as he sat up in bed. He placed his feet on the floor next to his bed and resisted the urge to throw up. He stood up, but instantly felt nauseous, so he sat back down again.

After _unwillingly_ throwing up into the bin next to his bed, he felt a bit better, but his head was still rushing and eyes drooping with fatigue. He couldn’t really remember anything that happened the day before. Had he gone out partying and chugged some beers with Gwaine? That sounded most likely. He looked over his bed and was relieved to find no one else lying in it with him. It wouldn’t have been the first time he’d been drunk and picked up someone.

After sitting on the bed for about ten minutes, Arthur’s head finally cleared up enough for him to put his feet on the floor and stand up. He had to lean up against the wall for support, but he couldn’t stand without throwing up another time so flopped back onto the bed. It was at this moment that Arthur questioned why he liked to drink so much. Yes, it tasted pretty good, but was it really worth the endless torture the next morning? Arthur started to think about this, but thinking hurt too much, so he went back to trying to keep standing upright.

Finally, after a few minutes of falling down and standing back up again, Arthur could finally stand upright without toppling over, and another few minutes later he could finally walk, although at a very slow pace. Half-walking, half-crawling, Arthur managed to get himself to the kitchen for a cup of strong coffee, which always seemed to sober him up.

“Morning,” Lancelot smirked as he saw the waste that Arthur had become. “You look dreadful.”

Arthur groaned and leant against the doorframe.

“What happened last night?” he moaned, closing his eyes.

“Well, you didn’t bring anyone home this time, which is a record.” said Lancelot. “I’m actually pretty shocked, you look more wasted than you’ve been for ages. Pink champagne really does leave its mark.”

Some memories came back into Arthur’s head. Going to Morgause’s restaurant … having a glass of champagne … having another glass of champagne … and then another... He remembered tripping on the curb, and Merlin helping him get home.

“I’m remembering,” Arthur said, stepping forward towards the coffee machine. Suddenly, Arthur tripped over his own foot, and he flew face-first into the ground.

“Who put that foot there?” Arthur asked, lying on the floor, completely bewildered. His head hurt a little on the forehead where it hit the ground, which didn’t help with the hung-over-ness of his situation.

Lancelot cracked up laughing, bending over and his eyes crinkling up in the corners.

“You’re probably more hung-over than Gwaine! He’d be proud of you!” he laughed. Lancelot pulled out his phone and snapped a picture of Arthur, lying on the ground.

Arthur slowly picked himself up off the floor, sending a lopsided glare in Lancelot’s direction and made his way over to the coffee machine. He filled it with water and flicked the switch before sitting on the benchtop, waiting for it to brew. Finally, when it finished, he poured himself a cup and downed it in less than a minute, the heat of the drink almost burning his throat but at least waking and sobering him up. Then he repeated with another cup, and went for another before Lancelot intervened by taking away the cup and putting it in the sink.

“Slow down,” Lancelot laughed, “or you won’t be able to sleep for the next few years.”

Arthur groaned and reached for the cup but Lancelot grabbed his friend’s shoulders and moved him over onto the sofa. Arthur was too exhausted and his head felt too fuzzy to do anything to stop him.

“Do you want some painkillers?” Lancelot asked from near the kitchen.

Arthur groaned in return, but Lancelot took it as a yes and gave him a tall glass of water and two tablets. Arthur downed them as quick as he could without falling off the couch and quickly checked the time from the clock on the wall. It read eleven in the morning. _Good_ , Arthur though sluggishly, _I didn’t miss my show at least_.

Arthur had a few guilty pleasures, and one of these was ‘ _Cooking with Audrey’_ , a cooking show that was on every Saturday at 11:30. Arthur had watched nearly every episode, and owned all of Audrey’s cookbooks. He secretly loved to cook, and would often cook up a storm every time Lancelot was out, because Lancelot was vegetarian and Arthur liked his meat. He had a feeling Lancelot knew about the obsession with the show, but he’d never said anything to Arthur didn’t mention it in case.

After putting up with the last thirty minutes of some cheesy soap opera, the show was finally on. Five minutes in, Arthur’s phone started buzzing from the coffee table near the couch. Arthur looked at the caller. Merlin. Arthur reached over as far as he could and grabbed it, almost dropping it in the process, too stubborn to get off the couch and easily pick it up.

“This better be important, Merlin,” Arthur groaned. “Audrey’s on right now!”

Merlin was the only person who actually knew of Arthur’s cooking obsession, and was the one who’d gotten Arthur into cooking in the first place. Merlin was probably the best cook out of their group, apart from Morgause. Arthur often joked about how Merlin could probably make rat taste nice.

“You really are addicted to that show, aren’t you?” Merlin laughed.

Arthur rolled his eyes.

“Anyway,” Merlin continued, “We have to return our tuxedos today – would you like me to come and pick yours up, or meet at the rental place?”

Arthur groaned. He didn’t feel like moving for the next few centuries. Arthur knew Merlin didn’t drink as much as he did the night before, so he figured Merlin would be wide-eyed and ready to run a marathon or something else athletic.

“Can you pick mine up?” Arthur moaned.

Merlin laughed,

“I’m already at your door. I knew you wouldn’t want to get up. Can you let me in?”

On cue, the doorbell rang. Arthur called out for Lancelot.

“Can you get that?” Arthur called out.

Lancelot got up and opened up the door, and Merlin popped his head into the lounge.

“Hello Arthur!” Merlin smiled, running over to slap him on the back. “Oh, you look awful.” he added as a side-note.

“Lancelot’s already pointed that out, thanks,” Arthur replied. “and my tuxedo’s in my room,” he pointed in the rough direction of his bedroom.

Merlin trotted up the stairs, grabbed his tuxedo and ran back down.

“See you, Arthur.” Merlin said as he ran out the door.

Once Merlin had left, Arthur turned his head back to the TV, where Audrey was preparing a large roast chicken. Arthur was salivating just at the sight of it. Almost near the end of the show, he was getting excited for the final product when he thinks he fell asleep. He would have normally slapped his brain awake but he was too exhausted to even fight it.

* * *

 

“What’s with the state of this suit?” the lady at the tuxedo rental place questioned. Merlin nervously smiled. The lady was gesturing to Arthur’s suit, which had been crumpled up on the side of Arthur’s bed from this morning.

“Yeah, um…” Merlin said, biting his bottom lip.

“Oh well, next time, be more careful!” The lady said, chucking the tuxedos into a washing bin behind her.

As Merlin was leaving, his phone buzzed. He pulled it out and checked the message.

One new message from: _freya <3_

Merlin smiled and tapped on the notification.

_Don’t forget to grab some groceries! Love you xx_

Merlin instantly slapped his head. If it wasn’t for Freya, he would’ve forgotten them, and would’ve gotten a very long lecture later that night from Freya about it. Merlin texted back.

_Haha I never would’ve forgotten about them! Love you too xx_

Merlin hoped Freya wouldn’t detect he’d lied.

* * *

 

Freya started laughing when she saw Merlin’s message. He’d most likely forgotten about it. Typical.

Freya was about to text back something sweet when she heard a knock on her door, and she stood up from the sofa to get it. It was most likely Morgana or Gwen, coming to grab something they’d left when they came over before the dinner party last night. She put her phone onto the table, opened the door, and was surprised to see her neighbour, Sefa, there looking troubled and her cheeks flushed red.

“Hey!” Freya said, smiling at Sefa.

“Hey,” Sefa said quietly.

“What is it?” Freya asked concernedly.

“Can I come in?”

“Of course,” Freya said, letting Sefa inside. She led Sefa over to the sofa and the second her friend sat down, she burst into tears.

“What is it?” Freya asked, shocked by Sefa’s sudden outbreak.

“My boyfriend, Will,” Sefa said, and she broke into tears again.

Freya had heard about Will, but had never met him. He and Merlin had been friends since high school, and he’d been the one who’d recommended the block of flats Merlin and Freya currently lived in, and had helping dish in a bit of money. Sefa had talked about Will to Freya before as well, and she’d heard the two of them going at it quite a bit too. It sounded like a perfectly sound relationship.

“What is it, Sefa?” Freya asked, being as comforting as possible. Fortunately for herself, she was going to university studying psychology so she mildly knew how to comfort emotional people.

“He-he bought a Soul Watch,” Sefa started.

Freya instantly knew what must’ve happened – it had happened quite a lot before. She’d seen a few small cases on the news of in the newspaper: a happy couple buy each other a Soul Watch as a present, and discover they aren’t soulmates. That was one of the negatives of knowing everything. She reached and put an arm around Sefa’s shoulder.

“An-and…” Sefa stumbled, wiping away tears. “He’s still got a few months to go until he meets his soulmate.”

After saying this, she started sobbing more violently, leaning into Freya’s side and sniffling. Freya put her other arm around her friend and said soothing words to her.

“It’s going to be okay, it’ll be fine, we’ll sort it out…”

“And, and, and…” Sefa said, her shoulders seizing up. “I put on the watch. And it came up blank.”

Freya was instantly shocked but she tried to hide it as to not scare her friend. If the Soul Watch came up blank it only meant one thing - you didn’t have a soulmate. This was an extremely rare case. There had only been a few since the watch had been released, and if anyone found out they were soulmate-less, they were often pushed away and considered unnatural. It made Freya almost scream at society for rejecting people over one simple thing. Those people struggled getting jobs and had their property taken away from them if their landlord was enough of an ass to do so. They were even dibbed a name – Soulless.

“I’m a Soulless now, aren’t I?” Sefa cried, burying her head in her hands.

Just then, the door swung open, and Merlin walked in, carrying two rather large and overflowing bags of groceries.

“What’s happening?” Merlin asked slowly, confused by the crying Sefa sitting in their lounge.

Freya quickly stood up and walked over to Merlin, who was dropping the bags on to the kitchen counter.

“Bedroom, now.” she said, grabbing his shoulder. Merlin looked at her, confused, but went with it.

“What’s up..?” Merlin asked when they arrived at the bedroom.

“Will bought a Soul Watch,” Freya said, sitting down on the bed. “He’s still got a few months left. And Sefa put on the watch and it came out blank.”

Merlin looked back at Freya.

“She’s… Soulless?” Merlin asked, shocked.

“Yes,” Freya replied. “Now you can’t tell anyone - promise?”

Merlin smiled back. “Promise.”

* * *

 

Arthur spent the rest of the day dozing on and off and flipping through every channel their TV had, but there was nothing interesting enough to keep him awake. Finally he stopped at an infomercial channel, where they were playing an hour special on the new, more advanced Soul Watch.

“It’s incredible!” The over-excited lady yelled on TV. “With an improved accuracy of ninety-nine percent, you’re certain you can find your soulmate!”

The lady smiled and gestured in a couple, both wearing Soul Watches.

“And even better,” The lady laughed, “soul mates can now touch their watches together. If the watch flashes red, it’s a match!”

The couple pressed their watches together and they turned a bright red colour, and the couple looked at each other and smiled cheesily.

“Creating relationships, one couple at a time, buy the brand new, improved, amazing Soul Watch now!”

A number flashed up on the screen.

Arthur looked at the number. He was curious, that’s for sure – he wanted to know how long until he met his soulmate. He’d had a few dates in the past, but nothing was really certain. But then again, what if he was only going to meet his soulmate in 20 years? He wouldn’t want to wait alone for that long. After sitting there for a few minutes, Arthur had finally made up his mind. He picked up his phone, entered in the numbers and called.

* * *

 

“You what?” Merlin yelled into his phone.

“I was curious!” Arthur yelled back, getting incredibly agitated.

“Are you serious?” Merlin responded, sighing loudly.

“It’s my choice, Merlin,” Arthur snapped back.

“You spent almost half-a-thousand on a Soul Watch. I thought you were the only half-sane friend I had!”

“Well the money is gone. And tomorrow, it should be on my doorstep.”

“What if you’re Soulless? It might be a better option not to find out.”

“Well guess what, I don’t care!” and Arthur hung up before he did anything drastic.

“I can’t believe it,” Merlin sighed, throwing his phone to the ground.

“What’s wrong?” Freya asked from the dining table.

“Arthur bought a Soul Watch.”

“Well, it could be a good idea actually,” Freya laughed. “Arthur’s got a very deprived love life. Maybe finding out when he’s going to meet the one true love would be a good idea.”

Merlin laughed, walking over and pecked Freya on the cheek.

“I guess that’s true,” he sighed. “Might also be good for him to try and find out his sexuality.”

“Sounds good,” Freya laughed, standing up on her toes and kissing Merlin on the forehead.

“I love you,” Merlin laughed.

“Love you too,” Freya laughed back.

* * *

 

Morgana stood in the middle of her entrance-way, looking around the room. The fine paintings on the wall, the chandelier hanging from the ceiling, the decadent coloured walls. She looked at the floor, the polished oak that covered the floors of all the rooms.

She slowly walked up the steps, holding onto the fancy railing, hearing her heels click-click on the dark wood.  She reached the top and turned around, looking over the entranceway, looking at the marble door, the Persian carpet lying across the floor, it’s corners reaching out, trying to touch the walls.

She turned around and pushed open the doors into another hallway, where the main rooms came off. She looked down the hall, a long strip of fine carpet ran down the hall, and paintings by famous artists dangled on fine strings, hooked into the wall.

She normally would pay far too much attention to the exquisite decor of her home, but today she was distracted. Morgause had been distant with her for a while now. She’d booked the dinner for Gwen and Leon at her restaurant to see if she could make it up somehow, but she didn’t get a free moment to see her friend. Morgana hoped it wasn’t obvious to everyone else in the group that something was breaking between them. She loved Morgause like a sister and didn’t want to lose her. She was almost tearing herself apart with worry about it.

Morgana heard a beep from her phone as she walking into the large living room. She pulled it out.

_Sorry Morgana, but we just can’t stay friends anymore. It would damage my reputation._

It was from Morgause.

Morgana’s legs felt weak and she lowered herself onto the leather sofa, shaking. Thoughts ran through her head: _Morgause wouldn’t do this, we’re friends, best friends, why would she do this? This can’t be her_.

Her head swam with confusion at the sudden event, but the logical part of her brain bullied the rest of her into believing the truth. Morgause had been distancing herself for a reason, but it wasn’t working enough so she had to end it harshly to make sure Morgana never went running after her.

She felt tears running down her cheeks.


End file.
